video streaming

Netflix revealed plans late last year to expand into the Australian market in March of this year, and that time is finally upon us: the service will be available to Australian users on March 24, exactly 3 weeks from now. Questions about what kind of content and specifics on pricing were left up in the air, however, and though the video streaming service still hasn't revealed what subscribers will be paying, there have been a couple announcements today fleshing out the other particulars.

Astute Netflix users will have noted the big content changes that took place over the course of December -- the first of the month marked a lot of shows and movies disappearing and some new ones coming in to fill the void, followed by more additions over the course of the including (including another Original Series Marco Polo). It seems like that just happened, but the new year is moving quickly and another big content library reshuffle is just around the corner, set to kick off on March 1.

As we've previously mentioned, Netflix will be releasing another original series called 'Bloodline' on March 20, and ahead of that debut is the series' first trailer. Netflix released the trailer on its YouTube account on Monday, and during its two or so minutes, we're given a decent enough look at show, with the focus being mostly on the family and its drama. The trailer is wrapped up neatly with the series' hook: "We're not bad people, we just did a bad thing."

The recent introduction of Dish Network's Sling TV has rocked the television industry, and for obvious reasons: subscribers can watch live channels like ESPN over their Internet on whatever connected device they have, something that has been long dreamed of by cord-cutters and those tired of traditional cable. Some networks have followed this up with plans to provide streaming subscriptions through which their own content can be streamed -- Viacom, for example, recently revealed that Nickelodeon will be doing just that.

Netflix is a force to be reckoned with, and there's no sign of that slowing down. The video streaming service is making a massive push for original content, the likes of which it has largely found success with (so far), and at the same time it is also working to expand its audience. Netflix revealed in the recent past that it'll be arriving in Australia and New Zealand next month (though there's debate about how effective that will be), and likewise the service arrived in France last year. Now it has set focus on Japan.

It's no secret Netflix plans to ramp up its original show offerings this year, and it won't be limiting itself to just fictional series' like the newly released Marco Polo. As we noted earlier this month, Netflix will be releasing an original documentary ("My Own Man") on March 6, and on the same date the company has announced it'll be releasing another original offering: Aziz Ansari's newest stand-up comedy special. Likewise, as is expected with the original shows, it'll be available to all of Netflix's subscribers.

As consumers continue to drop traditional cable in favor of various video streaming services, some companies and networks are (finally) accepting reality and getting on board with their own offerings. HBO announced its own video subscription service plans in the recent past, and consumers recently scored another option with the introduction of Sling TV. Viacom, which has notoriously been picky about where and when its shows are available online, is about to do its own dabbling in the world of video subscription services, and it'll be doing so through Nickelodeon.

Further driving the obsolescence of technology like Flash, Google is announcing that YouTube will default to using HTML5 video by default, at least on the most recent versions of major browsers. While it might take some time before the web is truly rid of Flash, it is a brave move forward especially for a service that is absolutely reliant on the smooth and flawless delivery of multimedia content. It also shows how much the web has grown up to replace the benefits once provided only by the likes of Flash.

Netflix has dominated public attention when it comes to original series, but competitor Amazon has scored its first big series' win with Transparent, a cleverly named series that touches on some heavy issues through a series of characters including Maura. The series has been available for a little while now on Amazon's own video service, and it has found favor with viewers -- so much so that it scored a couple of Golden Globe awards this month. In celebration of that, Amazon is removing that paywall for a single day, allowing anyone to watch the show.

Will Arnett will be heading back to Netflix in the near future, according to a recent report tipping the video streaming service in an order for his latest series Flaked. Arnett is perhaps best known for his role in Arrested Development, which landed on Netflix in the recent past, and he is set to star in the new series of his own creation, Flaked, set in Venice, California. Reportedly, the series will be available to all Netflix subscribers next year.